RAMON, Isabela — Fish cage operators and workers have incurred million-peso losses due to a massive fish kill caused by low oxygen level at the Magat Dam in this town.
Village officials reported fish kill in General Aguinaldo and in nearby Ballao and Taliktik in Cordon town, and in Halog in Ifugao.
The fish stocked at their cages had started to die on Wednesday, and the cause of which was traced to lack of oxygen, water pollution, lack of rain, and hot weather.
Growers have been selling still-edible fish at P30 to P50 a kilo, down from the P140 to P180 a kilo selling price.
Charlie Nayona said he lost P170,000 for the stocked fish as he only sold P20,000 in one cage. About 4,500 kilos of fishes in his pond have been either thrown away or cooked for animal food, he added.
Villager Mark Dela Cruz urged growers to throw away inedible ones and keep good ones for drying.
Mallin Longatan has asked government officials to immediately act on the matter.
The operators have been wary since Monday due to the sudden fish kill along Halog in Ifugao province, a neighboring village in General Aguinaldo, Ramon, Isabela province.
“The fish should have been ready next week for harvest but the fish kill beat them to the draw,” fish cage operator Lorena Bulaay-Dacuycuy said. She said that her fish cages alone had 3,000-kilo of fishes, mostly tilapia.
Emily Chilagan said they will be mired in debts again due to the fish kill.
As a result of large volume of harvested dead fish from cages, stalls are literally flooded with almost-giveaway prices of P30 to P40, according to fish grower Johny Tandas.
Other fish growers let the floating fish at the fish cages, waiting for government help.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Cagayan Valley said the fish kills may have been attributed to low oxygen spawned by prolonged high temperatures, poor water movement, pollution due to excessive accumulation of organic matter and algal outbreaks, and sudden fluctuations in environmental situations.
Fishery officials have also pointed out oxygen depletion or hypoxia as the cause of the fish kills.